Westfield shopping centre neighbours 'waiting for repairs five years after opening'

Call for action: Susanna Swallow said residents received just a box of chocolates (Picture: Jeremy Selwyn)

Residents of 19th-century cottages behind Westfield in west London are waiting for the company to fix damage to their homes nearly six years after its shopping mall was completed.

People living in Shepherds Bush Place claim lorries damaged the road surface and smashed garden fences during construction work.

They also complained that shoppers try to use their cul-de-sac as a cut-through from the Tube, as a lavatory and for street drinking. The company was due to put up signs saying “No access to Westfield”.

Retired tennis club owner Susanna Swallow, 74, said: “Despite many requests for action nothing was done for five years except to give a box of chocolates to each house.”

Boards to obscure the red Westfield sign were completed in April and the firm paid for extra CCTV behind the Tube.

A Westfield spokeswoman said it offered to pay for paving but “for reasons unknown to us this offer was not taken up by residents at the time in 2008.”

She added: “After the issue was more recently revisited by residents, Westfield maintained its agreement to fund works including the paving, fence replacement and street signage which will be carried out by the local council’s highways department this year.”